A Ninja's Choice
by Mystic Dragon
Summary: It starts out as a mission like every other mission. Team 7 is told to find an artifact in an old temple. But Kakashi is sick, and another Jounin has to lead the team. From there, things spiral out of control as Team 7 is caught up in a sinister plot.


If I owned Naruto, then Sasuke wouldn't be so much of a bastard later on in the series (I don't care if he had a good reason!), and said series would still be worth watching.

But, because the series has none of the above, I obviously don't own it. Nor will I ever own it. If that's a real problem…I think there's some dust left I my wallet you can have.

;p

This takes place between the first and second seasons (after the incident at the Hidden Mist Country).

I edited the story, particularly the grammar, but also plot-wise. Since I have no intention of following it up with a sequel, I changed the ending a bit to fit a one-shot. I also took out a lot of the Japanese, though I kept a few in there (like "baka', which means "idiot"; "usuratonkachi", which means something like "super idiot"; "ou-baka", which literally means "king of idiots", but just is another term for "major idiot"; "-chan", which is a suffix attached to the end of names for girls and children, often used by friends or to show affection; and "-sensei", which means "teacher").

* * *

Shinobi Sacrifice

Naruto was happy. Then again, he finally talked the higher-ups into letting them have another C-rank mission. He happily hummed to himself as he stood on the bridge with his pack, waiting with the rest of his team for their ever-so-late Jounin, Kakashi, to show up. As time passed, however, he stopped humming and was trying to amuse himself with anything he could without pissing off Sasuke and/or Sakura (he had already done so inadvertently, and now was sporting a couple healing bruises).

"He's late." Sakura sighed again. "Later than usual. It's been three and a half hours…"

The other two nodded.

"Um…Team Seven?"

They turned and saw a Jounin of average height with black hair and brown eyes, who squinted at them.

"Who're you?" Naruto sat up from where he was counting the clouds and stared at the strange Jounin.

"My name is Hiroshi," the Jounin stated, "I was told to oversee your team for the mission due to the fact that Kakashi-san is sick."

"Fine time for him to get sick." Sakura fumed.

Inner Sakura: I bet he's playing hooky!

Naruto stretched as he stood up. He pouted. "I wish Kakashi-sensei was leading us like he always does…but as long as we get to do _something_ after waiting for four hours, let's get the hell outta here already!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Hiroshi, but remained silent.

Hiroshi shouldered a pack of his own. "Well…shall we be off? I heard your mission is to go over to an old temple and recover some sort of odd artifact on the outskirts of the Konoha region. It should take us about two days if we get going now."

"I'm ready, I'm ready!" Naruto waved his hand in the air with a grin.

"Let's get this over with." Sakura groaned.

Sasuke grunted and stood up from where he had been leaning against the railing, and strapped on his pack. His gaze never left the back of Hiroshi as they walked.

Naruto was questioning the new Jounin about all sorts of things.

"When did you become a Jounin?"

"Last spring."

"Do you have a team?"

"No."

"Ano sa, ano sa…what's your favorite food?"

"Hmm…teriyaki, I suppose."

"Mine's ramen. Bleh…how can you eat that stuff? Ne, ne…are you married?"

The questions continued until Sakura hit him.

"Stop being so annoying, Naruto!" Sakura shouted.

"Ow!" Naruto whimpered.

They fell silent.

Naruto shut up for about five minutes before speaking to the Jounin once more.

"Ano sa, ano sa…Hiroshi…"

"That's 'Hiroshi-sensei'…"

"…but you're not _my_ teacher."

"I'm still a teacher, though, so you should address me properly."

"I just met you about two hours ago, and you haven't taught me anything. You're not my teacher."

"That doesn't matter…I'm still a teacher, so you should address me as one, Naruto."

"But you don't even have your own Jounin team! And I never saw you in the academy…"

Sakura hit Naruto upside the head again after about ten minutes of bickering.

Again, Naruto scowled and proceeded to pout as he walked for a while.

About half an hour went by in silence until Naruto started to complain.

"Are we there yet? It's hot, and I'm getting hungry…can't we stop for lunch? We stopped for five minutes about an hour ago for a stupid sandwich! That doesn't go very far, you know…can we please take a break?"

This time, Sasuke hit him. "Shut up, dobe!"

Naruto rubbed his head (that now had three lumps on it) and glared at the other boy.

"You're giving me a headache! Don't you know how to shut up!" Sasuke shook his head in exasperation. "I hope this mission doesn't require stealth, because you wouldn't be able to sneak up on a tall, deaf, and blind person wearing bright colors in broad daylight!"

Naruto crossed his arms and puffed out his cheeks, a sign that he was annoyed and slightly hurt.

They walked on in an uncomfortable silence the rest of the way.

A day and a half later found them peering over the ridge at an old temple…that was being guarded.

"What's going on?" Sakura said, "There was a chance that the temple would be guarded, which is why it was a C rank, but those are other ninja!"

"So we just go through them," Naruto grinned.

"Hold up there, boy," Hiroshi shook his head, "Look closely at them."

"Chuunin," Sasuke observed. "They're all Chuunin level."

"What?" Sakura hissed.

"So? What's the big deal?" Naruto frowned as he recalled how easily he took out Mizuki. "Just put in a few shadow clones, clobber 'em, and go in."

"Usuratonkachi." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You can't just take down a Chuunin like that."

"How would you know?" Naruto glared at him. "Have _you_ ever had to take down a Chuunin?"

"If you haven't forgotten, those ninja from the Mist country were Chuunin level and Jounin level." Sasuke glared at him with a smirk. "And if I remember correctly, when we were attacked by the Chuunin ones, you froze up like a coward."

Naruto was fuming. "Why you…! I'll show you who's a coward!" with that, he stood up and jumped over the hill with a shout of, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

"Ou-baka!" Sakura shouted, her eyes wide, "We need a _plan_…!"

"What's he doing?" Sasuke was on his feet. "How stupid can he be…!"

"Either way, we had better go help him." Hiroshi stood up, then looked over the hill as Naruto and the clones started taking down some of the guards. _Physical manifestations? That's a high level technique…_

"Che," Sasuke swore and pulled out some kunai. "When will we stop having to pull his ass out of the fire?" He leapt over the hill, throwing the kunai at one of the ninja that took down some of the clones.

Sakura gulped as she looked down at the battle. _No way…there's no way…I can't…_

"What's the problem?" Hiroshi indicated. "Your teammates are in trouble if they take them on. Shouldn't you help?"

"I…" Sakura stammered. _Chuunin? We can't take down that many Chuunin! There were five of them standing guard, and now there's at least a dozen of them!_ "We shouldn't take them down…"

"Hmm?" Hiroshi raised an eyebrow.

Sakura ran over to the top of the hill and shouted down at her two teammates that were fighting. "SASUKE-KUN! NARUTO! PULL BACK! WE CAN'T TAKE DOWN THAT MANY! MORE ARE COMING OUT OF THE TEMPLE! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE FOR NOW…!" She was interrupted when a hand went over her mouth and a kunai was pointed at her throat. Sakura's eyes went wide. _What…!_

"Shut up. You'll mess up the entire plan," a sinister voice hissed in her ear.

Sakura trembled a bit. _Hiroshi is…? Plan…? What…?_ She felt her hands being bound behind her back as she was roughly made to move forward, with Hiroshi holding her the entire time with his hand over her mouth. _What's going on? _

"ENOUGH!" Hiroshi shouted.

Instantly, the Chuunin pulled back from where they had surrounded Sasuke and Naruto, though they still kept a loose circle on them.

"What? Hey! What're you doing?" Naruto pointed at Hiroshi. "Eh! Sakura-chan…!"

"Don't move unless you want her to die," Hiroshi stated, and kept the kunai up to a scared Sakura's neck.

Even Sasuke looked surprised and confused. He quickly hid it and got his look of cool confidence back.

Naruto looked torn between anger, confusion, and trepidation.

"You're bluffing." Sasuke smirked.

"Am I?" Hiroshi moved the kunai and swiped a hand over his hitai-ate, revealing that he had used a Genjitsu technique to hide the line going widthwise across the middle of the leaf symbol. "I threw all loyalties to Konoha away years ago, stupid children. You've been playing into my trap the entire time!" He pressed the kunai back into Sakura's neck, drawing some blood that trickled down her neck.

Sakura was petrified, her eyes wide. _He's serious! He's going to kill me!_

Sasuke looked angry. "Che."

"Dammit!" Naruto swore, then ran towards Hiroshi. "Let her go, you bastard…!"

"Baka, Naruto…!" Sasuke shouted, his eyes wide.

"Let go of Sakura-chan…!" Naruto leapt into the air and aimed a punch at Hiroshi's face.

Hiroshi smirked and in a flash, threw the kunai he was holding into Naruto.

It hit him in his right side, just missing vital organs.

Naruto coughed and fell to the ground, then angrily pulled the kunai out and winced as he pressed a hand to the wound to stop the blood-flow. He looked up at Hiroshi, a mix of anger and pain on his face.

Sasuke could only stand there. _Hiroshi's speed is off the charts…I barely even saw his hand move…_

Sakura's eyes were wide. _We'll all be killed at this rate! I don't want to die! But I don't want them to die, either! Think, think…!_ Her eyes narrowed. _I can't be the one to hold them back!_ She bit down, hard, on Hiroshi's hand.

Hiroshi yelped and pulled his hand back from her mouth.

Sakura took that chance to shout to her teammates as she tackled Hiroshi to the ground with her shoulder since her hands were bound. "RUN!"

Naruto's eyes were wide and even Sasuke looked surprised.

"Bitch!" Hiroshi started to hit Sakura to get her off of him.

"Hurry!" Sakura shouted.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, then swore and leapt up and jumped over them, already in a run to get away from the area. "Come on, Naruto!"

"Fuck…!" Naruto stood up and winced, then headed after Sasuke, his left hand over his wound. He called back over his shoulder, "We'll be back for you, Sakura-chan!"

As Hiroshi got Sakura off of him after knocking her out, the two vanished from view.

Some of the Chuunin ninja were about ready to go after them.

"No." Hiroshi shook his head. "They'll be back. After all…we have their teammate. We should set up traps instead and wait for them to come back."

The Chuunin nodded.

Hiroshi slung Sakura over his shoulder and headed to the temple.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke were taking refuge over the hill they had first been on.

"Damn," Sasuke swore, and peered down. "They're increasing security…they're setting up a trap."

Naruto was staring angrily at the ground, wincing occasionally. He pulled his hand away and saw blood all over his hand and his clothes where he had been hit. His expression softened a bit as he stared at the blood on his hand, though he gritted his teeth.

_Dammit…this is all my fault! It's my fault Sakura-chan was hurt! My fault that she was captured! If I hadn't jumped over the hill and attacked…none of this would have happened!_ He clenched his bloody hand into a fist, and ignored the throbs of pain from his wound…

…and whatever Sasuke was saying about needing a plan. _They're right…I __**am**__ an idiot. I'm always the burden of the team. No matter how hard I try…I always let my pride come first. And this time, it got Sakura-chan into trouble. Dammit, dammit, dammit…!_

"Naruto!"

Naruto blinked and looked at Sasuke, who stood over him with some bandages in his hand that he got out of Sakura's abandoned pack.

"Take your shirt off so I can…" Sasuke started.

"No way!" Naruto snatched the bandages out of Sasuke's hand. "I'll do it myself!" _I can't let him see the seal…!_

"Che! Do what you want." Sasuke crossed his arms. "Not that I care, anyway…"

Naruto peeled off his jacket and shirt, making sure his back was to Sasuke as he wrapped the wound. It seemed to have stopped bleeding already, and sure enough, his seal was visible. When he finished, he put his shirt and jacket back on and sat back down with a wince.

"Damn," Sasuke muttered, and glanced over the hill again, then glared at Naruto. "This is all your fault, you know, usuratonkachi."

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. "I know, I know!"

Sasuke blinked, as he hadn't expected Naruto to admit it.

Naruto opened his eyes a bit and clenched his right hand into a fist since his left was back over his aching wound. _Screw the mission for now. We need to get Sakura-chan out of there._

He gritted his teeth in frustration. _But sneaking around is something I'm terrible at, and there's too many of them out there! If we're caught sneaking in, it's over!_ His mind raced. He remembered when the three of them had passed their test with Kakashi, and what happened slightly before it.

"_That stone contains the names of ninja who have died in the line of duty…"_

"_Ninja who don't listen to orders are low. But ninja who don't care about their teammates are lower than trash."_

"_A ninja must be willing to give his or her life for their mission, their village, and their team."_

Sasuke interrupted his thoughts, "We have to sneak in and get Sakura out. Hiroshi is probably guarding her…"

"No." Naruto shook his head.

"What?" Sasuke glared at him.

"It won't work," Naruto stated without looking up.

"And you have a better idea…!" Sasuke hissed.

Naruto met his teammate's stare as his eyes shone with an unreadable emotion that took Sasuke back a bit.

Sasuke closed his mouth. _What is that expression…?_

Naruto continued, "Face it…I suck at sneaking. I'm too loud, clumsy, and this orange outfit is a dead giveaway to where I am."

Sasuke blinked in surprise.

Naruto looked back over the hill at the dozens of Chuunin, then winced and pressed a hand to his wound. He looked back at Sasuke. "I have a plan. Look, we have to use what we're good at, right? Face it…I have more stamina than you."

"Do not…" Sasuke started.

Naruto held back his retort and continued with his idea. "And you are better at sneaking around than me…"

"That's true." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "What of it?"

Naruto sprung to his feet and glared at Sasuke. "Look, I'm _trying_ to tell you my idea!"

"_You_ have an idea…this I have to hear. Carry on…"

Naruto held back from punching his sarcastic teammate and looked back over the hill at where the Chuunin were moving around occasionally. "I'll cause a distraction. Draw their attention completely. I have my Kage Bunshin to do that. I'll have one of them transform into you, and have that one use the Kage Bunshin as well to create some more clones that look like you."

Sasuke blinked. _This plan is…pretty good so far. Then again…back in the Mist Country, he came up with a plan in a split second…and it worked._

Naruto took a deep breath and continued, "You sneak in and get Sakura-chan out while I'm distracting them."

Sasuke stared at Naruto, then looked at the twelve Chuunin surrounding the place. His eyes widened a bit and he whipped back towards Naruto. "Wait a minute…you…"

Naruto looked at him grimly. "If this entire thing was just a set-up, then Kakashi-sensei must know something's wrong. Hopefully, he'll come with backup. But we can't wait for him to do that, and we can't take the chance that he may or may not have found out about this. So right now, this is the only thing we can do."

"But…" Sasuke faltered. "You…"

Naruto sighed. "I know." He started to make hand seals. "But it's the only way."

"There must be something else…" Sasuke started. But even as he said that, he knew that if they wanted to get Sakura out alive, they had to move quickly. Hiroshi never promised that she would still be alive. And despite his tough attitude, he didn't want any of his teammates to die.

Which is why he didn't like the plan.

However, he knew Naruto was right; it was the only way. There was no chance that Naruto could sneak past twelve Chuunin.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke gave in. "Fine. We'll do it."

Naruto grinned, and projected confidence once again. "Great. You ready? Move when I start the attack."

Sasuke nodded and crouched down. He turned to Naruto, who was finishing up hand seals. "Say…Naruto…"

Naruto blinked and looked at him.

Sasuke looked away, then looked back at the boy. "…don't die. Not that I care, of course…but Sakura would be troubled…"

Naruto smiled, knowing what Sasuke was really trying to say. "Thanks. But I have to become the Hokage, after all. I'm not gonna die so easily."

Sasuke nodded.

"Ready?"

"All set."

Naruto nodded and gave out a familiar shout as one of him appeared and transformed itself into Sasuke.

"Let's go!" Naruto shouted, and had him and his clone create more clones as they leapt out from behind the hill at the twelve Chuunin guards as Sasuke sped away, using some camouflage techniques as he went.

Naruto and his clones attacked the Chuunin, successfully drawing all twelve out of the area. Three more came out of spots where they were waiting with an ambush, destroying about five clones in one hit.

Naruto winced as his wound throbbed, but ignored it and punched and kicked at the Chuunin, dodging any kunai and shuriken thrown at him. A couple more clones went up in smoke, and he hoped that his clone of Sasuke wouldn't do anything rash to get itself destroyed before the real Sasuke got in.

He had known Sasuke long enough to recognize the boy's chakra signature, even though he was using so much chakra that all the Chuunin would be able to sense is Naruto (and the clones). Sasuke was halfway there.

_Come on, Sasuke! Dammit, what's taking you so long?_ Naruto gritted his teeth and winced in pain as a shuriken embedded itself in his arm. He spun around and did a jump kick to the large Chuunin, then dropped to the ground and kicked out, knocking the Chuunin off his feet. As he and two clones worked on that Chuunin, the other clones were fighting the others.

He grinned when he felt that Sasuke had made it to the temple. _Yes!_ He punched the guy in front of him with such enthusiasm that the guy was knocked out instantly. Pain stabbed at his back, and he winced and turned around to see another Chuunin that had thrown a kunai at him. _One goes down and two more takes their place…!_

Before he could think of anything else or throw another punch, the battlefield exploded.

* * *

Sasuke looked around, and braced himself against the wall when an explosion made the entire ground shake. Pieces of the ceiling fell down, raining dust, bits of bricks, and plaster on him. He stayed in the shadows, moving almost like a shadow itself as he ducked behind any object in the room. He peered out from behind some sort of ruined stone slab and saw two doors. He concentrated, and felt Sakura's chakra coming from the door to the right. He pressed himself almost into the stone and hit the ground as a guard went running past him and out the door.

Sasuke looked around the stone and didn't see anyone else, so he made a go for the door, pausing with his back to the side right before the entrance as he almost blended in with the wall thanks to concealment skills. He gripped the handle, and turned it soundlessly. He opened it and stepped to the side. When nothing happened, he peered back around to see an empty hallway. Cautiously, he walked through it, sticking close to the wall. Suddenly, as he passed about halfway, a series of arrows shot at him from the far wall.

Sasuke had a quick reaction. "Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

His flame burnt the arrows to ash, stopping most of them from hitting him. Two of them got through. One of them skimmed by his left cheek and the other skimmed his left shoulder.

He winced, but continued. The ground rumbled again, and he had to leap back to avoid falling down into a pit-hole. But the spot he landed on was part of it, and crumbled under him, plunging him down.

* * *

Naruto was breathing hard and bleeding in various places. His side wound had reopened and had soaked through the bandage and clothes with blood. He had long since run out of kunai, and was almost out of shuriken. Most of his clones were gone; the explosion of the land mine had done that. He was lucky that he wasn't on the same side, or else he would be dead now. So he watched the Chuunin as he fought to see where they weren't stepping. That worked for only a little while before even the Chuunin were caught unaware of some of the landmines under their feet.

The next explosion was close to where Naruto was, and he had to cover himself as debris hit him. He coughed up blood as pain exploded in his ribs, and looked over to see one of the Chuunin there with his fist in Naruto's ribcage.

Naruto coughed again and backed up, only to get kicked down by a second Chuunin. His back flared up in pain from where he had been hit by a kunai and a shuriken and he fell to the ground.

Luck would have it, he fell onto one of the trap triggers. Kunai, shuriken, and other sharp objects flew from both directions of the forest and killed the two standing Chuunin. Naruto, who had been laying on the ground, was unharmed by the trap.

Wincing and wrapping an arm around his middle as he stood up slightly crouched over, he swiped some blood out of his eyes and pulled out a couple shuriken, then threw them at a distracted Chuunin. He called on his chakra and made more seals to create more clones since almost all of his were gone.

Naruto was breathing hard as he looked hazily at the battlefield.

Five Chuunin.

Five left.

He had started with twelve. Then, three more joined them. About ten more Genin-level ninja came out as well as two guards with spears. Those had been hard to take down.

Now, he was left with five Chuunin. However, he was not only running out of chakra, but out of stamina, and was in considerable pain from various wounds.

He stumbled and nearly fell, but righted himself again. _No…I can't go down. Not until Sasuke gets Sakura-chan out. If I go down, then these guys will go back in for them. _Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he opened his eyes once more and ran back into the fray, ignoring the pain and concentrating only on the targets.

* * *

Sasuke swore and winced. He had tried to jam a kunai into the wall to stop his fall, but only had managed to slow it down. Still, he wound up half-pinned under the rubble when the ceiling fell on top of him. The only thing that saved him were kunai and shuriken combined with some wire to provide somewhat of a shield above him. But still, he was positive that his left arm was broken and his right leg was injured.

With another curse, he somehow got himself free of the rubble and climbed back up, using some special ninja tools from his pack to scale the smooth wall as well as chakra in his feet.

When he reached the top, he pulled himself out and sat there, breathing hard as he clutched his left arm which was swollen and throbbing with pain. His head was hurting a bit, and blood trickled down slightly from when some rubble had hit him. He inspected his right leg, and swore when he saw the painful gash on the side of his thigh that was bleeding into his white shorts. His leg pouch was crushed and unusable, but his waist pouch still had things in it.

Bracing himself against the wall, he slowly pulled himself to his feet with a grimace from the pain in his leg that was worse as he walked. But, finally, he had reached the other end of the hallway where the chakra signatures were the strongest. Gripping the handle of the door, he turned the handle to find it locked. It didn't have a keyhole, either, so it was locked from the inside. He looked at the door, then performed the same set of hand seals he had used against the arrows.

"Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

The door was burned down, and he leapt through the remaining flames, missing being impaled by a sword by inches as it just tore his shirt side and caused him to stumble slightly. Righting himself, he turned to face Hiroshi, who stood there with a katana in hand.

Sakura was unconscious on the floor in the corner, still tied and gagged. On the positive side, she appeared unharmed.

"I'm surprised you made it here." Hiroshi growled, then pointed the sword at Sasuke as his expression turned malicious. "How quickly you came to your death."

Without another word, Hiroshi lunged with the sword.

Sasuke dodged the swing by stepping into the attack, and shouldered Hiroshi back into the wall, then grabbed the middle of the sword and twisted as he pushed it down, which made Hiroshi let go of it or risk breaking his wrists. He drew back and then dropped the sword when his hand suddenly burned.

"Heh." Hiroshi wiped a trail of blood from his chin and smirked. "That sword has a special jutsu on it. It will burn anyone who touches it except for me."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, then blinked when Hiroshi seemed to vanish. He felt the presence behind him and barely got his arms up to block the kunai that slashed his broken arm from the elbow to the wrist. He cried out in pain and gripped his broken and bloody limb as he stumbled back. Shuriken suddenly came out of nowhere in one direction, and he leapt away to avoid them, only to be caught by some in the other direction. One got him in his shin, and the other in his shoulder.

But Sasuke found that, bit by bit, just like when he was in the mirror prison, he could see more and more. He could see things seemingly in slower motion than they were going in reality.

Hiroshi frowned as his barrage of shuriken were dodged and parried by Sasuke and the kunai he held. _How can he keep up with me…?_

Sasuke blocked some more shuriken. _I can see them…I can see them clearly! At first little by little…but I can see them…!_

Hiroshi was caught by one of Sasuke's shuriken in his vest in his left shoulder when he paused at what he saw.

"Sharingan!"

* * *

Naruto watched a bug crawl on a blade of grass next to where he was laying. The area was a mess of dead bodies and knocked out men, as well as traps that had been set off. It looked like someone had dropped a bomb on parts of the area since there wasn't any grass left in some spots.

But Naruto lay on the grass, and stared into the sky. His left eye was shut due to a deep cut right above it that drenched his face in blood, and his usually yellow hair was now an orange color from dried and matted blood. Most of his injuries were healing already from the Kyuubi's chakra, but he was still feeling the pain and dizziness of his wounds.

"The clouds are really nice…" Naruto mused, then managed to turn his head as he coughed up blood, rasping as he breathed. He was sure he had a punctured lung, and hoped the Kyuubi could heal that. His ears still rang from all the explosions, and blood trailed from damaged eardrums from the sounds of the explosions. A pool of dried blood had soaked into the ground where he lay from when his wounds were still bleeding.

Even the pain seemed to fade a bit as he stared up at the sky, his eyes glazed over slightly from shock.

Naruto smiled, though. _I did it. And I'm sure Sasuke has saved Sakura-chan. _Tears pooled from his eyes and ran down the sides of his face. _Am I dying? Is this what it's like to die?_ His faded hearing picked up some sounds coming from nearby, and some worried voices. _Wonder who they are…_

He felt things starting to get dark and fuzzy. He felt a shadow over him, and wondered if there was still one of the Chuunin alive. Then, a familiar yet fuzzy face came into view. He just stared blankly at the face, unable to form any words as that part of his mind seemed to have shut down. He knew the silver and green blur was speaking to him, but he couldn't hear it and just stared back.

At the worried expression on the man's face, Naruto smiled. There were some more people around him, and he felt them cutting up his jacket and pants to patch up his injuries, which triggered him to cry out in pain from being moved.

Naruto winced and looked hazily back up at Kakashi, who was looking at him worriedly. He knew that he was starting to lose consciousness, so he tried to tell him about Sasuke and Sakura. A gurgling noise came from his throat, and he coughed up more blood, frustrated at his inability to talk.

Someone was saying something, but he didn't hear them. He tried again, and this time, was able to talk. "Sasuke…Sakura…temple…fighting…Jounin."

Kakashi said something that he couldn't hear. The last thing he saw before his world went black was Kakashi rushing towards the temple followed by two other familiar Jounin (he couldn't quite place where he'd seen them before) and a medical team personnel looming over him. Then, he knew nothing.

* * *

Both Sasuke and Hiroshi were breathing hard, glaring at each other. Sasuke had a couple more injuries, but they were minor scratches. Hiroshi, on the other hand, had been nailed by jutsu after jutsu after being hit in the thigh by Sasuke's last shuriken.

Sasuke was feeling light headed from his injuries and from using so much chakra, yet still held up with the Sharingan. He had taken advantage of Hiroshi's astonishment of the eyes to score some hits. But then, Hiroshi had kicked him in the chest to flee a bit to put distance between them.

Sasuke was just about panting, and his chest felt like it was on fire. _Be damned if I don't have a cracked or broken rib here and there…_

Both were out of weapons. Both were almost out of chakra…

Sasuke fell to his knees and slammed his good hand on the ground to support himself, coughing up blood and breathing in short gasps.

"Tell me what it's like in hell sometime." Hiroshi limped over to Sasuke and started making some hand seals. "I must admit, I actually had fun fighting you, kid. You made for excellent prey. Unfortunately, all fun things must come to an end. Goodbye, Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut and heard a muffled cry from Sakura. He didn't know when she had regained consciousness, only that she had sometime during the fight. But now, it didn't matter. _Naruto…I'm sorry…I failed…_

Suddenly, there was a loud crack and a slight explosion that blew a hole in the wall.

None of the occupants in the room had the time to even blink before there were three Jounin standing there, with Kakashi in front. Sasuke recognized the other two as the captains to Team 8 and Team 10.

Kakashi looked calm, but everyone knew that he was furious under that mask of his. After seeing Naruto's near-death condition and now having Sasuke just about passing out, he was ready to kill. And that's just what he did.

"I won't honor you with a good technique." Kakashi growled menacingly at Hiroshi as he pulled out a kunai. "This will be all that's necessary for the likes of you."

Before Hiroshi could say a word, there was one kunai in his throat, one in his heart, and a third in his gut. He was dead before he hit the ground.

"You went overboard, Kakashi." Asuma shook his head, his voice light as if he was talking about the weather.

Kakashi scratched his head idly. "Hmm?"

Kurenai untied Sakura, who immediately rushed over to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun! I knew you'd come!" Sakura gushed, and threw her arms around him.

That caused Sasuke to let out a cry of pain.

With the light filtering in the dark room from outside, Sakura could see Sasuke's poor condition, and immediately apologized.

Sasuke didn't respond. His head was swimming and the pain was almost suffocating him as he tried to get his breathing back under control.

"Sasuke. Can you hear me?" Kakashi knelt down by them.

Sasuke looked up tiredly, the Sharingan no longer there and instead, a look of pain and exhaustion in his onyx eyes. "Yea…"

"Good." Kakashi blew out his breath. "At least you can…Sakura, are you hurt at all?"

"Just a few scratches…it's nothing compared to Sasuke-kun." Sakura bit her lip in concern as she looked at Sasuke after pulling away, afraid that if she touched him she'd hurt him.

"Can you stand up, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked. "The medical team is outside with Naruto."

Sakura blinked. _What exactly is going on…?_

Sasuke tried to stand up, and would have fallen back down if Kakashi hadn't caught him.

Asuma got Sasuke onto his back to carry him out, and Sasuke was too drained to protest.

They headed out of the temple.

"Where…is Naruto…?" Sasuke rasped.

Silence answered him, none of the Jounin quite knowing what to say. After all, Naruto had been dying when they got there.

They came to where the medical team had set up a temporary camp and were still treating Naruto, hooking him up to a bunch of life support devices they had brought with them while some used their chakra to attempt to heal him.

Sakura's eyes were wide, and her hands flew to her mouth at the sight of Naruto swathed in bandages that were stained with blood in some places. He was as pale as a ghost, and his breathing was so light that Sakura thought it could stop at any time.

"He's alive…?" Kurenai asked in surprise.

One of the medics nodded as another one started to work on Sasuke's injuries.

"Barely," the medic stated, "He's in a coma now. We don't dare move him…so a couple others set up a small camp."

Kakashi nodded. _This is all because I was late. They took advantage of the fact that I was late, made up an excuse for me not being there, and led the three right into a trap. _

Kakashi was silent as he looked at the state of his subordinates that he had ended up growing fond of.

Sakura was the best off out of them all, with only a few scratches that had been patched up even though she was confused.

Sasuke was next…he had passed into an unconscious state a little while after the medics had set his broken arm and now lay on a futon to rest.

Naruto…it would be a miracle if the boy lived, even _with_ the Kyuubi's power. Kakashi had never seen so many wounds on one person with that person still breathing. It had alarmed him when they found him. Alarmed him even more when Naruto didn't respond to his calls. If the boy hadn't moved his head once in a while and eventually had spoken before losing consciousness, he would have thought that he was already dead.

Asuma and Kurenai helped the medics gather things for dinner as the sun was setting, knowing that Kakashi was sorting out his own thoughts.

* * *

It was a big surprise the next morning when they found that Naruto's condition had stabilized enough so that they could start on their journey home. The medics were carrying Naruto in a stretcher so they could head off, while two others stood at each side of the stretcher, keeping up the pace while continuing to hold the equipment hooked up to Naruto to make sure he didn't slip back into a deadly coma.

Sasuke was once again getting a ride on the back of Asuma due to his injured leg.

Sakura was still a little shaken, but seemed better off now, asking if everyone was alright and asking Sasuke what happened. She was impressed with Naruto's plan, though she had wiped away some tears while she called him an idiot.

Kakashi gazed at Naruto. _In that one moment…he understood everything. He knew that he would probably die, but went through with the plan, anyway. He even took them all down so that Sasuke only had to worry about Hiroshi. Naruto…you've matured and grown much more than I'd have expected._

He glanced at Sasuke, who was sleeping from exhaustion on Asuma's back. _And Sasuke, too. They both have grown so much. What they did…the plan…handling the situation as mere Genin with limited skills…they far surpass any expectations of them._

He gazed at Sakura. _Even she had grown. She was willing to put herself at risk so that the other two could escape. _He let a smile cross his lips under his mask for the first time since he found out about the entire thing. _I'm proud of them. _

* * *

Naruto didn't want to open his eyes. It was so comfortable…but he felt so many presences in the room, he couldn't help but force his eyes open. Still bearing some bandages (though not as many since some of the smaller wounds were almost gone now), but only slight pain when he moved, he blinked.

"He's awake!"

Naruto wasn't prepared for what he saw next. He knew he was in a hospital room, but he wasn't expecting there to be some cards on the dresser and flowers in a vase next to the cards…and all the people in the room.

Iruka was the first one he saw. The man hovered over him a bit, with a broad smile.

"What…? Iruka-sensei…?" Naruto said intelligently.

"You've been out for a week!" Sakura spoke up from nearby, "We thought you were dead!" Tears of relief were in her eyes, and one fell down her face. She shook her head and wiped them away. "You're such an idiot!"

"Sakura-chan…"

"Didn't think you were going to wake up, dobe," Sasuke spoke from where he was seated by the bed. His right leg was still bandaged, and his left arm was in a sling. He had needed crutches for a few days, but didn't need them anymore, though he still had to take it easy.

"Welcome back to the world of the living." Kakashi was grinning under his mask.

Naruto made no attempt to sit up, since he had a feeling that he'd be in for a lot of aches and pains if he did, so he just smiled brightly and felt tears run down his own face when he saw that his team was alright.

"Are you in pain?" Iruka asked in concern, seeing the tears.

"N-no…" Naruto sniffled and winced as he moved his arm up to wipe away his tears, then tried to sit up. His body felt stiff, and some spots ached.

"Easy." Iruka steadied him, then added some more pillows so that Naruto could be sitting up.

Naruto leaned against the pillows and grinned. "I'm alive? This isn't a dream? This isn't heaven?"

Sasuke snorted with a small smile. "What makes you think you'd go to heaven?"

Iruka laughed while Kakashi was obviously trying to stop his laughter and Sakura was giggling.

Naruto pouted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'd go straight to hell, baka," Sasuke chuckled.

That just about did it for the ones in the room, and even Naruto snickered and had to agree that they were _all_ going to hell.

"Yes…definitely hell…" Kakashi leaned against the wall.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto eyed him dubiously.

"…after all, you failed the mission, and another team had to recover the artifacts. Once you three are all cleared from injuries…I hear the daimyo's wife is looking for her cat again…"

The three teammates exchanged looks of horror.

Hell, indeed…

**THE END**


End file.
